GURO REITEN helped Chelsea put their defeat in Europe to bed as the Blues beat Everton 3-0 to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.
The Norway ace’s thumping opener and a Sam Kerr belter were among the goals that saw the champs avenge their loss to the Toffees in last year’s contest.
And the gritty win means the WSL juggernauts’ hopes of notching up a domestic treble are still alive.
Emma Hayes made five changes to the side that fell to a 4-0 loss to Barcelona in their first-ever Champions League final.
Erin Cuthbert, Beth England and Reiten were among the players who made the starting line-up for the hosts at Kingsmeadow.
And the match saw Ingrid Moe Wold pull on the Everton captain’s armband with the Norway international playing her final game before retirement.
The champs got off to a mildly jittery start with Everton having a couple of early first-half chances.
One of the first came through Valerie Gauvin latching on to a sixth minute Hayley Raso pass and attempting to flick the ball into Ann-Katrin Berger’s net.
And the Toffees went close around the 20th minute with Claire Emslie’s half-volley forcing a classy fingertip save from Berger at the far post.
But it was Chelsea who broke the deadlock a minute before the half-hour mark with Kerr teeing up Reiten.
And the Norway star buried a fierce bottom corner shot for the champions’ opener.
Minutes later Sandy MacIver pulled off a fine double-stop to keep the scoreline 1-0.
The hosts thought they had a second goal with a glancing Beth England header minutes before half-time.
But the Lionesses forward, who netted off the back of a fine floated pass from Kerr, was adjudged to have been offside.
The second spell saw Chelsea maintain the pressure with Millie Bright rattling the woodwork in the 50th minute with a corker of a strike from more than 30 yards out.
And MacIver pulled off a fine save moments later.
This occurred with Kerr going one-on-one with the Toffees stopper who came out swiftly to block the shot at Australia skipper’s feet.
Everton had a couple of good forays forward with Gabrielle George jetting down the left in the 62nd minute.
However, there were no Toffees in the box to get on the end of her dangerous whipped in cross.
The WSL champs countered almost immediately with Kerr dribbling her way to the box and unleashing a hefty right-footed effort saved by MacIver.
There were a couple of nervy moments around the 74th minute when Berger saw her clearance in the penalty box blocked by a Toffees shirt and almost land at the foot of an Everton player.
But Kerr helped the hosts double their lead with the Blues making a swift counter and the Australia star thumping in a high strike minutes later.
And they added a third goal with substitute Drew Spence getting her head on the end of Kerr’s lofted pass.
The goal saw the Blues wrap up a 3-0 result to end their season with a win.
Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
